The Calling

Every once in a while Neal Schon takes a break from being Journey‘s guitarist and explores a different side of his creativity. The latest fruits of his labor, ‘The Calling,’ his seventh solo album, will be released on Frontiers Records on Oct. 23. Schon plays all guitars and drums on ‘The Calling,’ and is joined by former Journey drummer Steve Smith. Noted composer Jan Hammer contributes Moog synthesizer solos on two songs, and Igor Len plays piano throughout. When Ultimate Classic Rock interviewed Schon in May, he filled us in on some details about ‘The Calling.’ “It’s one of the most rockin’ records I’ve ever made,” he promised. “I’ve made a lot of melodic solo records and some softer ones, because I was on that new age label, Higher Octave, for a while. This now, I had some money and decided that I was going to spend money this time on a record rather than try to do it in my bedroom with Pro-Tools and a Roland V kit on drums. I wanted a real studio and mixed in a real studio and spent a lot of time mixing. The record sounds really, really good.”